Wednesday, October 9
There's graffiti inside the bathroom door that says, "It's Okay Not To Be Okay." This is something people have been telling me constantly, but i don't feel like i really believe it. I'm one of those, "it's okay for other people, but it's not okay for me" people. Because i always have to push myself to achieve the impossible. Even though that doesn't usually work out for me.
I don't know why i typed that, or left it in. Just something i was simmering on while i conducted the morning rituals.
I did buy breakfast this morning. I got the scrambled eggs, toast, and juice combo, same as i got two days ago. Different bartender/chef today. The last one pointed me toward the buffet and told me to go ahead and get my toast there, so that's what i did again today. I went ahead and grabbed four slices. I was hungry this morning.
Then she brought me my eggs, complete with diagonal-cut slices of toast on the side.
Looks like i'm eating a lot of bread this morning.
I went through today's film lineup while i ate, since i'd failed to do that again last night. Tickets for Handsome Guys were sold out, both today and tomorrow. Stupid. I should've jumped on those weeks ago. Even when i was planning to fuck off to Portugal or Morocco, the plan was to be back by the 10th so i could see Handsome Guys, the Korean remake of Tucker and Dale Versus Evil. I was really excited about this one. I dropped the ball.
It sucks, but honestly, i'm still happy that i'm going to this festival, and i'm going to be happy no matter what i end up seeing. If i'm waiting until the last minute and just scooping up whatever tickets are available in my timeslots, i'm still happy. Even if i'm seeing absolutely awful movies, i. am. still. happy. That's not an affirmation, i'm not trying to convince myself, and it's not sarcastic; i'm absolutely, in every way, just happy to be here. As much as i complain about the train schedules and transportation mishaps and inadequate water supply and everything else, the festival has been a joy so far and i don't regret choosing to attend.
I made sure to purchase my tickets before leaving the hostel today. Something i set up and forgot to pay off in yesterday's entry, trying to purchase tickets on the train was difficult. Every time i'd hit a button to add something to the cart, or even worse, while i was trying to check out, we'd enter a tunnel or a rural dead zone. I got my tickets purchased just a couple minutes before the train pulled into the Sitges station. I got them downloaded as i was standing outside of Casino Prado.
There was no way to make an efficient lineup out of today's selections, unfortunately. So i've got a big gap, an hour and a half, between my first and second movies. Big enough to land another movie in, except there isn't anything that fits the time schedule.
I'd checked the train schedule before leaving the hostel, and i was a little afraid that i was going to miss the one i was after. I was trying to get to Sitges by 11:45, as my first film is 12:15, but i ended up getting out of the hostel three minutes late.
As i walked toward the train station, which is just a block away, i thought cockily, What's the difference? The train's going to be late anyway. Which, come on, you can't bank on that, and you know it. Even though it's probably true.
The ticket machine gave me an error when i tried to check out. For a brief moment, i panicked that all the trains to Sitges had been canceled, like something had disrupted the tracks perhaps. I moved over to the next machine and tried again.
Went through just fine.
Okay. Calm down. Nothing to worry about.
I got down to the tube, and within two minutes, an R2S train toward Vilanova appeared.
Perfect.
It does look like i'll be getting into Sitges about ten minutes later than i'd like, but it's still plenty of time to get to the Melìa, i think. I should be fine.
And that's where i am right now. I have my laptop with me again, so i'll try to keep updating as i go. That didn't work out yesterday, but who knows; today is another day. And also i have that 90 minute gap.
I haven't started writing yesterday's film reviews, though.
---
I got to the Melìa more or less right on time. I was in the front row for this one, not too far off center, and it was kind of nice, honestly.
The director of Else was on hand to do an introduction. He's French, but he spoke Spanish, so there was no translator. His delivery was of a very odd cadence, and he must have been god damned hilarious, because the whole room was laughing, and from my vantage, i could see the host just off stage doubled over, literally hinged at the waist and almost grabbing her ankles from laughing so hard. Really wish i could've been in on that.
Else was another pretty messed up movie. I don't know what it says about me that i thought it was less messed up than Kryptic, because by any objective measure, this should be far weirder. It's a French pandemic movie, about people going into lockdown because some kind of apparent disease is spreading which causes living beings to merge with inanimate objects. The first we see is a homeless man becoming a part of the road, extremely painfully. And from there, it just gets worse.
It's kind of a character study from there, about a new couple gradually losing their minds as they quarantine together. I don't know that the movie gets any weirder as it goes, though; once you've seen the man's body merge with the street, that's pretty much what you're in for, except more, and bigger, and bigger, and more, until the end.
It was okay. Maybe not my cup of tea. There was a ballot box outside, and i saw people going to it, but somehow i had gotten through the door without receiving a ballot. I didn't see what people were giving it. I thought about going back to ask for a slip, but instead i just made for the bathroom. If i had voted, i think i'd have given it a 3.
It made no geographic sense to go to Eguzki Lizarran from there, the restaurant Huan-Hua had recommended, since it's a mile away from the Melìa and all of my movies are in that building today; Else was in the big room, the Auditori, and everything else is in the Tramuntana. Probably would have made more sense to wait until the next time i'm in the Casino Prado. But i don't know for sure that i'll have any other showings there, and i don't know if i'll have another 90 minute gap between movies, i kinda hope that i don't. So with the time available, i decided to go do it. The place has built up in my mind so much at this point that if i never end up eating there, i'll be really disappointed.
She had mentioned that the place does self-serve tapas, cafeteria style, which is why i thought before that it should be quick and easy. When i was there yesterday, though, all i'd seen was menus and people sitting outside.
Today, i looked at the menu outside again for a few minutes, which is not in English, and finally decided to just walk in. I noticed that the entire bar was covered in plates with various little dishes, mostly consisting of a small slice of bread with some meat and vegetables held to the top of it with a large toothpick. Since i'd arrived right when they opened yesterday, that's probably why i didn't see this; they must not have had it all set up yet. I looked around for a few minutes as the only employee i could see was helping other tables, couldn't quite figure things out, and finally asked how it all worked.
"Take a plate, and take what you want, i count the skewers to charge you at the end," he said. "What to drink?"
From the menu outside, i'd gathered that the tapas options were all between €6-10, so i was afraid this would add up pretty quickly. The things on display were not particularly big, either, so i assumed they would have to taste incredible. I made my peace with how the bill was going to turn out, and grabbed four different things.
Everything tasted pretty decent, although none of it was warm, or seemed particularly fresh. I definitely could've eaten more, but for what i thought i was paying, it didn't seem like a good value for the money.
I took my plate with its four skewers up to the register. He rang me up. Including the Coke Zero, my tab came to €11.50.
...
Oh. Huh.
The prices on the menu must be for if you sit down and order things fresh and hot. The self-serve cafeteria is quite a bit less. That's nice! Now i do feel like it was worthwhile. And for how quick and easy that actually turned out, yeah, i could've done this yesterday. Not the first time i came by, but certainly the second, if i'd understood what i was doing.
So if i do end up in that area again, i may give Eguzki Lizzaran another shot. If i'm in a hurry, i can do self-serve quickly, now that i know how it works. And if i've got more time, perhaps i'll sit down and actually order something off the menu.
On the way back to the Melìa, i walked through the King Kong Area, also known as the Fanshop, where dozens of vendors are set up, selling movie memorabilia. I obviously wasn't planning to buy anything, but it was cool to see all the film posters and obscure DVDs on display. There was a bin full of action figures from the 80s and 90s, my childhood playthings, some of which i used to have, for €5. Almost grabbed something, just to have a souvenir. I did buy the shirt already, though...which i'm actually wearing again today. Feels a little corny, like wearing an Eiffel Tower shirt to the Eiffel Tower, but whatever. I really need to do laundry tonight. One booth had a festival shirt with the same design as i bought, but with the logo in rainbow. Hadn't seen that one at the other booth. It's okay, i'm happy with my pink one.
I also managed to stop at that fountain and fill my water bottles. I'm really happy i discovered this, total game changer.
Okay, now for a solid block of three back to back features in the Tramuntana.
Pepe did not work for me at all. I respect that the filmmakers tried a very unconventional approach to telling this story, but it felt very disjointed all the way through. Worse than that, it committed the cardinal sin of films. It was so, so boring. After the first 20 minutes of experimental filmmaking, including long stretches where the screen was either black, or showing white distortions as though a blank reel had been fed through an old film projector, with voiceover from characters that we will never see or meet in any meaningful capacity, i started nodding off. Admittedly, i probably missed some key story bits in this melange of threads while had my eyes closed, but i don't know how much it would have helped.
After i'd had enough 1 second naps that my body was ready to be awake again, around the 1 hour mark, i saw a few more minutes of random shit, and then suddenly, a cohesive narrative with actual characters appeared. A lot of it was an old married couple screaming at each other and throwing around accusations of cheating, which...come on, no one else wants to fuck either of you, let's be real. Also there was a beauty pageant subplot which i have no understanding at all of how it connects to the rest of the story.
This movie is supposed to be about the ghost of Pablo Escobar's hippopotamus.
I don't know what to tell you.
The next movie was called Zero. This one also did not work for me at all. Kind of a generic action flick. Two guys wake up in Senegal with bombs strapped to their chests and are given cell phones with bluetooth earpieces, and they have to do whatever the voice in their ear tells them, or else he'll blow them up. They're told they will get five missions, and if they can complete them all in ten hours, they'll be set free. The missions largely seem to be gofer shit, but they always end in violence.
It's basically Speed without the bus. Also a lot like Die Hard 3: The One With Samuel L Jackson. Except the lead actor, whose character is just called One, is kind of terrible. Like a dollar store Zachary Levi, who i also can't stand. The other lead, Two, might be a better actor, but the script doesn't actually give him very much to do, other than punch people.
It's just, i don't know. I didn't feel like there was much meaning to any of it? There's obvious nods to African politics, it's heavily implied that the voice in their ears (played by Willem Dafoe, with zero screen time - voiceover only) is trying to start a revolution in Senegal, and/or possibly a war with the United States? We never find out his true motives.
Most damningly, at the end of the first mission, a bomb goes off, and for just an awfully, awfully long time, we see people flying through the air in slow motion, and as it wore on, i realized - oh shit, this is supposed to be a joke. They thought this was funny. No one in the room is laughing.
There were several other points where i felt like they were making jokes, but the audience was not going along with them on it.
There was a Q&A session afterward, with the director and both stars. I disliked the movie, so i didn't really feel like hanging around, but what the hell else was i going to do? The next movie's in the same room. Plus, i've never been to a film festival Q&A, so it's worth it for that novelty alone. Toward the end of it, they fished their editor out of the audience, too. I guess those two actors had the idea for the film and approached the director with some money to do it.
They did address the tone thing directly. They talked about striking the right balance between action and comedy, and the director mentioned the scene with the flying bodies after the first explosion as an example, and i was just like, oh god, they think they nailed it.
This was the European premiere of the movie, i don't know where else it's played, but the director and stars mentioned that it was the first time they'd watched the film with an audience. I'm curious what they thought when no one laughed at the jokes.
Last movie of the night, for me, Arcadian. I keep having to check the ticket to remember the name of the movie. I watched the whole thing, and for the life of me i can not figure out what the title means.
The movie started, and Nicolas Cage's name appeared on the screen. Oh shit, i didn't know he was in this. Then Jaeden Martell. Oh, so this is like a big deal, then, huh?
I liked it. It wasn't super unique or original, but it's a fun ride, and well made. It's very much like A Quiet Place; Earth has been dominated by monsters with specific limitations, people are living in small clusters out in the country, we get walked through their way of life, what they must do to survive, and all of their defenses. Then everything goes wrong and we watch all the dominoes fall. It's good! Four stars. If there was a vote.
Before the movie, a title card that said, "Don't forget to vote" did pop up, but i didn't see anyone handing out ballots and i didn't see a box. There were two dudes trying to stop people and get them to scan a QR code, though, but the text was all in Spanish, and i had a train to catch, so i breezed past them.
I did have enough time to hit the bathroom before i left the Melìa, and take the scenic route to fill my bottles one more time. I might actually have my water goal met before pee-all-night-o'clock! That's exciting!
I'm on the train right now. We're actually stopped at Barcelona Sants at the moment, so let's see if the train actually starts going again, so i can have a simple commute back from the festival for once...
It's been five minutes...
Seven...
Okay! Yes! The train is moving! Passeig de Gràcia is next! A smooth commute! Unless the train blows up in the next few minutes.
---
I made it safely and without issue all the way to the Passeig de Gràcia station! But just to make sure it wasn't a 100% perfect transit, the stairs i chose to take me out of the station led me down a long tunnel, to a locked gate, looking outside. So i had to walk back and try again. That was weird, and for just a second, panic-inducing. Like, what if the ticketed door that was wide open, which i passed through to get here, has shut, and i can't get back into the tube because i no longer have a valid ticket?? Fortunately, it was still open, and everything was fine. Just the tiniest of inconveniences.
I knew it was already too late to get food at the hostel, so i thought i'd grab something before i went back. I was looking for something light, fast, and cheap. There's a McDonald's next to the entry to the station, but i don't like supporting them and their food isn't really food, anyway. Tapa Tapa was also already closing.
I found a place on Maps called Charrito, which was in the $10-20 range, open until 2am, and less than three blocks away. Perfect.
Walking up, i suddenly had déjà vu. Was this the place that i had gotten paella, over by the other hostel? Sure looked like it from the outside, and the bar inside was configured the same. I was already committed, though, and here comes the host, so i just asked for a table for one and went with it. I asked to sit outside, and he said that's fine, but they have a hard out at midnight for that. It was barely past 11, i agreed.
From the table, examining the outside of the building, i determined that it was not the same place. Just a very similar appearance.
I was looking through the tapas options and checking out other dishes when the waiter came to the table to ask if i was ready. I wanted to make sure i had enough time to eat and be gone by the cutoff, so instead of asking for more time, i panicked just a little, and ended up ordering more paella. I got a different kind this time, at least. Without really knowing what the difference was, i ordered "Mixed Paella" instead of the seafood.
"It's about 25 minutes for paella, is that okay?" he asked.
"Yeah, that's fine," i said, even though i was thinking, this is the opposite of what i wanted, in every way. Why did i do this?
I guess i was just thinking about how good the rice was in that other paella. That was really the part i wanted, the rice.
There had been a veggie paella option. Why the hell didn't i order that?? There was also a mushroom paella, but it included squid, and i won't eat octopi for moral reasons. Yes, even though i'm eating all these other meats on this trip. My ethical code is already compromised enough. I really need to stop doing this.
The paella arrived, and it looked exactly the same as the one i had a few nights ago, fully intact shrimp and all. There were more shellfish, though. I scooped up some rice and ate it. Oh, okay, i guess it's "mixed" because this one also includes chicken.
This was such a huge, heavy meal to eat this late at night, when all i needed was a bit of a snack, maybe a small sandwich. Poor choice, all around. At least it was delicious. And now i know the difference between a couple kinds of paella.
At 11:45, as i was getting close to finished, a group of four elderly people came up, slid two tables together next to me, and sat down. Their orders were taken, and drinks brought to the table. So much for the hard out at midnight.
It took a while to get someone to bring me the check. As i was waiting, a water truck came through, and across the street, a guy started pressure-washing the sidewalks. Some droplets of water began hitting me, just a tiny mist at first, then bigger and bigger drops. Dude's across the street, how am i getting this much splashback from his pressure washer?? I was watching them accumulate on my closed laptop as i scanned my credit card. I grabbed my receipt, which was already getting wet in the time it took the host to hand it to me, and got up and got away as quickly as i could.
Half a block away, i realized that this wasn't splashback from the pressure washer.
It's legit raining.
Well damn, again? At least it was only a few blocks to the hostel.
I really had intended to get my laundry done tonight, but since it's after midnight, i don't think that's gonna happen. Either i wake up super early tomorrow and throw a load through before the film festival, or i go in dirty clothes again. I guess we'll see, but i think we all know how this is gonna turn out.
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